The present invention relates to a method and a machine for machining railway wheels. The machining extends not only to the reprofiling of wheels of individual wheel trucks, but also to the reprofiling of the wheels of wheelsets. It also extends to the reprofiling of brake disks, whether they are on individual wheel trucks or on the wheelsets of other trucks. The requirement for carrying out the machining according to the present invention is that the affected railway wheel and/or the wheelset is rotatably mounted in axle bearing housings. In this case, the individual wheel and/or the wheelset to be machined may be in the uninstalled state, but the individual wheel and the wheelset may also be machined in the installed state.
The wheels and brake disks of railway vehicles wear out due to material wear, plastic deformation, and braking and acceleration processes. For these reasons, they have to be reprofiled from time to time, and this is typically performed through machining. For uninstalled wheelsets, the reprofiling is performed on surface lathes, which have a high metal removing capacity. However, the outlay for dismounting and remounting the wheelset is disadvantageous in this case, and this is particularly true for the wheelsets of traction vehicles, where it is required that the entire vehicle be operationally inspected after uninstallation of a traction wheelset.
For this-reason, the underfloor machine tools were developed, over which the railway vehicle, with the wheelsets installed, is pulled or travels under its own power. The underfloor machine tools are typically set up in a separate hall, below the level of the rails, in a pit. Since they are designed for the machining of heavy vehicles using high metal removing forces, they also have a correspondingly high weight. In addition, it is necessary that an underfloor machine tool be attached to a heavy foundation. The investments for facilities in which underfloor machine tools are operated are correspondingly large. In comparison to surface machine tools, the metal removing performance of underfloor machine tools is somewhat lower.
For railway and local service companies which carry out their business using only a few vehicles, the investment for a wheelset machine tool, whether it is a surface or an underfloor machine tool, is hardly cost effective. These types of companies have therefore made the transition to uninstalling the wheelsets to be machined and sending them to specialized workshops, where the reprofiling of the wheel disks and machining of the brake disks may be performed. However, even in the main railways, there are only a few workshops which are equipped with wheelset machine tools. The consequence of this is that uninstalled wheelsets or entire trains and/or cars must sometimes be transported over long distances. In particular during times of more difficult operation, in autumn or winter, for example, many wheelsets arise which have to be reprofiled in between times. In between times in this sense means that the wheelsets and/or wheels must be reworked between the actual inspection intervals determined by the company. The weather conditions of autumn, with rain and falling leaves, lead to a peak demand for wheelset machining in many rail traffic firms. Sometimes, the capacity of the installed wheelset machine tools is not sufficient to cover the peak demand. Replacement times, non-availability, and transportation and logistics costs are added to the actual machining cost for the wheelsets.